Archive for January, 2014

B.C.C.I. Hegemony at the I.C.C… The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have, it appears forgotten the days when the England and Australian Cricket Boards dominated the International Cricket Council till about 2 decades ago, when these 2 countries had Veto Powers which could throw out any proposal put forward by the other countries. Sri Lanka was the country that was worst affected, in that both England and Australian Cricket Boards vetoed our application for Full Membership for nearly ten years. (We first applied for full membership in the early seventies) Thereafter the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) successfully spearheaded a proposal to abolish the Veto Powers of these two dominant members of the ICC in the early 1990’s and was ably supported by the Indian and Pakistan Cricket Boards(PCB) .

Michael Atherton, 29 January 2014 in the Sydney Morning Herald, where the title reads “Atherton blasts ‘big-three’ plan”

Former England captain Michael Atherton and a leading global anti-corruption watchdog have joined the chorus of criticism regarding plans to effectively cede control of world cricket to India, Australia and England.

Leaked draft proposals to be discussed at a two-day International Cricket Council (ICC) board meeting in Dubai on Tuesday and Wednesday call for more decision-making powers for a three-strong group of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Cricket Australia and the England and Wales Cricket Board, who between them represent the game’s wealthiest nations. Read the rest of this entry ?

Michael Atherton, in The Times, 30 January 2014 with some liberties in altering the title

“A DONE deal,” is how, last Thursday, Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, described the negotiations over the draft proposal for an overhaul of the finances, governance and future shape of world cricket. He was almost right. Yesterday the ICC issued a statement saying that it agreed, in principle if not yet in fine detail, to the proposal as it prepared to hand control to India, England and Australia.

As a body, the ICC will not be missed. Incompetent, wasteful, as the draft proposal hammered home time and again, and self-interested, the directors had a chance to make a stand for something better and brighter, but chose instead to accept the scraps and the concessions on offer. In this, of course, there was absolutely no surprise. Read the rest of this entry ?

Richard Browne, courtesy of ESPNcricinfo, and the Sunday Leader , where a different title was used

The county of Kent in the south east of England, just 30 odd kilometers away from the continent, is a rural county with a proud history. Known as the Garden of England, the summer sees an explosion of life as fruits and vegetables come into bloom. In days gone by children from the slums of London would come down for the summer to pick fruit, the only prevention from rickets the devastating disease that comes froma lack of sunlight in the then smog ridden streets of east London, which lie just to the north of Kent. Read the rest of this entry ?